[Laurieston]

A quick question please.  Does anyone know, or have experience, of this?

When a hen is not laying, ie moulting or not laying due to winter, does a cockerel still mate with her?  I ask as I saw my cockerel doing his thing with one of my birds today, one who is not currently laying.  I wondered why, and came up with a few ideas:

1. he was overly optimistic (doesn't know she's not laying) about passing on his genes
2. he knows something I don't know (she's about to start laying again=
3. he was just practicing (do birds do that?)

What do you think?

Laurieston

[melodrama]

My cockerel wakes up every morning and has a go at anything he can see!  I'm sure he'd go for the fence post if it smelled more chicken like x

[Laurieston]

where is old fashioned romance?

[robert waddell]

no pointers in the animal or fowl world

[plumseverywhere]

   mine's the same as Melodrama, as soon as his door is open he runs round after anything he can catch (cue Benny Hill music as he does so bless him)

[Laurieston]

then I think I'll keep ours.  Our last one went into the pot as he kept jumping up at the children; but this cockerel is a 'chicken'.  Not entirely respectful, but at least a little discrete, and not too pushy.

I did notice however, that he never mated with the new hens (young ones) before they were a certain age (maturity?) and that soon after this they started laying.

[plumseverywhere]

Ours did try it on with one of our new cream legbars but she was really feisty and scared the life out of him and he ran away!! he's a huge cochin btw but a real gent 

[chrismahon]

No, unless they are really forceful. The hen won't let them if they have room to manouvre. Ours might just tread on them but it's just going though the motions. The colour of the comb tells the cockerel they are ready. The comb reddens when the eggs start the manufacturing process, about 5 days before you see one in the nest box.

[ellied]

Interesting and good timing this one - George offers himself every morning and chases the girls round but yesterday and today I have seen him on top of two different girls and today I found my first blue/green egg in the coop..  It was cold and didn't seem to have a broody hen about but I'm not sure I'd recognise signs unless she was sitting refusing to shift

Unfortunately my delight is tempered with the fact that George has also started attacking my leg when I'm in his coop   The first 2 times I was looking in the nestbox and could only assume it was territorial during his settling in period, but today he really faced me out as I tried to intimidate him (having swiped him off myself I felt a show of oneupwomanship was perhaps required) and he's crowing and hopping up onto things whenever he sees me now..  I've no damage as yet but it isn't something I want to encourage and the vision of breeding my own purebred Araucana chicks let alone letting him have the 8 laying hens, are fast fading into worrying I have bitten off more than intended, not that I actually intended having a cockerel he just came with the girls and was too good looking to wish him in someone's pot

Any tips?  Have I lost it by trying to face out a cockerel or not gone far enough?  I don't want to hurt him or vice versa but it can't go on unchecked or I'll be wearing padded legs in midsummer   Is it because he's got girls interested at last, and will it fade as he settles more?  They're all about a year old so if I can tame George's habits a bit I'd be delighted to let him continue with the girls he has, even if not the rest..

[Anke]

Hi Ellied, I have in the past used a broomstick every time I entered the run and used it a few times at the beginning. After a while he got the message and was legging it to the other end of the coop when I came into view. Didn't stop him mounting the hens though... I kept him only for one season, (i got some very nice hens from him, and he was btw quite a good-looking French Maran) and then he went into the pot, as I have the children around and they do the hens now, so cannot have one that attacks. My current one is all show and no bite.

I would kep him until the spring until you have a good clutch of eggs (and hatched them), and then maybe look for another one for next year?

[Sylvia]

I'm devoted to my Cornish Game cockerel and wouldn't like to bash him up (bas***d though he can be in spring ) I used to fend him off with a dustbin lid but that didn't help when I was collecting eggs or cleaning out houses so now I have a very large bucket and when he goes for me I put it over him and leave him there until everything is done. His bewilderment lasts until I'm safely out of the run!

[plumseverywhere]

so now I have a very large bucket and when he goes for me I put it over him and leave him there until everything is done. His bewilderment lasts until I'm safely out of the run!

  That's just made me laugh out loud! Hubby is muttering at me under his breath LOL. love that tactic...

[chrismahon]

That really made me smile Sylvia.

I pick all of our Cockerels up daily Ellied, whether they like it or not. I do wear glasses and wouldn't like to do it without. They are getting very aggressive at the moment, even big softy Arnold stared me out and started offering tempters. None of them have ever attacked me, but they do come running to check that I am not hurting their girls when I pick them up. They should all calm down in Spring when all their hens come into lay. I'd need a dustbin to cover Arnold!

[plumseverywhere]

Lucky in that our Cochin is so huge, it takes him quite a while to do that funny gambolling run he does from one end to the other of the run! he's never shown an aggressive side to him, even when I had to catch him twice daily and give him antibiotics for his poorly foot. I think he muttered and swore in chook language but was never horrible. he belongs to my 8 year old so he better stay nice!!

[PetiteGalette]

I've tried upending-the-bucket-over-the-head; then rolling a really aggressive cockerel (who ended up in the pot),  around in the bucket until he was disorientated but he still charged round like a silly numpkin with the bucket on top of him trying to find me...............
Now I've found a well-aimed water pistol (at the head) stops them in their tracks................. They really don't like getting wet.